1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of data processing systems. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved apparatus and method for reducing power consumption for push messaging.
2. Description of Related Art
Current wireless data processing devices such as the iPhone and iPad (designed and sold by the assignee of the present patent application) are capable of registering with a push notification service to receive push messages. Push messages are transmitted over a wireless network such as a Wifi or cellular data network to provide notifications to the end user. For example, when the user receives a new email message, the push notification service will push a notification to the wireless data processing device informing the end user of the new email message. Various other types of applications may utilize the push notification service to provide push notifications to the end user including phone service notifications, application store notifications, instant message notifications, and calendar notifications, to name just a few.
As mentioned, wireless data processing devices are capable of connecting to the push notification service through multiple different communication interfaces including Wifi interfaces (e.g., 802.11 interfaces) and cellular data interfaces (e.g., GPRS, G3, G4 interfaces). FIG. 1, for example, illustrates a wireless client 101 with a Wifi interface 102 for connecting to the push notification service 110 over a Wifi network 105 and a cellular interface 103 for connecting to the push notification service 110 over the cellular network 106. Thus, in some circumstances, the wireless client 201 may be connected to the push service 210 over the Wifi network 105 even when a reliable cellular connection exists, thereby consuming power using both the Wifi interface and the cellular interface. It would be beneficial in these circumstances to select one of the two interfaces over which to receive push notifications so that the other interface may be temporarily powered down to conserve power.